Children roll eggs during White House Easter Egg Roll hosted by President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, April 21, 2014. Thousands of children gathered at the White House for the annual Easter Egg Roll. Carolyn KasterAP

Children roll eggs during White House Easter Egg Roll hosted by President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, April 21, 2014. Thousands of children gathered at the White House for the annual Easter Egg Roll. Carolyn KasterAP

NC eggs on a roll

What do North Carolina, the White House and Easter have in common? You may be surprised to learn that egg farmers from across the country, including our great state, are proudly donating 30,000 farm-fresh eggs to the 2018 White House Easter Egg Roll held on Monday, April 2.

This iconic tradition dates back to 1878, and today it is one of the largest annual gatherings hosted by the White House. Following the creation of the American Egg Board in 1977, REAL eggs returned to the White House for egg rolling and activities. That same year, America’s egg farmers also presented the first daughter with the first-ever Commemorative Egg and this tradition continues today with a presentation to the First Lady of the United States.

Thanks to the American Egg Board, which has donated thousands of real eggs to the White House Easter Egg Roll for decades, families can decorate eggs, enjoy snacks and continue the tradition of rolling eggs with wooden spoons across the South Lawn. For us in modern agriculture, it’s an opportunity to educate the next generation on the value of eggs to American society and the journey from hen to home.

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The White House Easter Egg Roll has served as an opportunity for our families to come together and reflect on our long heritage in the egg farming industry. As the second-largest egg producer in the United States, we’re proud to represent Rose Acres and North Carolina at the White House. At Rose Acres, we also host an Easter Egg Hunt for the community each year. We have activities such as a petting zoo and cake walks for families to participate in.

I love what I do, and it’s why I can’t wait to share my passion with families from across the country at this year’s White House Easter Egg Roll. We hope as you plan for Easter Sunday’s family gatherings, while your children hunt for colorful eggs, know that America’s egg farmers care for their hens, their communities and their land every day. Wishing you an incredible Easter and spring from our family to yours.

Greg Hinton

The writer will be representing North Carolina this year at the White House Easter Egg Roll.

Quakers support treaty

Chapel Hill Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers, Piedmont Friends Yearly Meeting) supports the new United Nations General Assembly’s Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty and urges other concerned citizens to join in this support (A copy of that treaty is available at: http://undocs.org/A/CONF.229/2017/8 .). Most citizens are not aware of this treaty because the major media have not reported extensively about its development or potential impact.

This treaty is the most important step world governments have taken toward the actual elimination of nuclear weapons from a planet facing the all-too-real possibility of nuclear annihilation.

In accord with Quaker Peace Testimony, Quakers have striven to eliminate nuclear weapons sine the 1945 Unites States bombing and destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, a horror from which the world has never recovered. Sadly, today almost daily we hear leaders threaten the use of disastrous nuclear weapons. Our own government is opposed to the elimination of nuclear weapons, a policy contributing to an extremely dangerous situation.

The door to abolition of nuclear weapons is open, and we of Chapel Hill Friends Meeting urge others who are concerned about nuclear weapons to join us in publicizing and supporting this all-important United Nations Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty.

Matthias C. Drake

Clerk

Chapel Hill Friends Meeting

Take a page from the kids

Imagine health care for all as a right, free tuition from pre-K through college, mass transit systems, environmental programs to repair and protect our ecosystems, and eliminating homelessness for let’s say, half the $1.3 trillion national budget.

Oh wait, guess who’s getting the biggest share of that $1.3 trillion national budget? That’s right, the biggest slice of the budget pie goes to the big fat, bloated, over-stuffed Pentagon. Too bad for us the people, so many billions every year for present, past, and future wars and the new bombers, weapons, and war ships needed to wage them, just as war criminals like Trump advisor John Bolton, war peddlers like Secretary of State nominee Michael Pompeo and torture advocates like CIA nominee Gina Haspel like it. And on top of that, there are assaults on health, education, environmental regulations and nutrition programs that are supposed to serve and protect those who need them the most. Big win for the Pentagon, big loss for us.

It’s time to take a page from the kids who marched to stop NRA cash that matters more than their lives, the teachers who went on strike in W.VA despite threats of firings, and the Native Americans and farmers who stand against oil and gas pipelines. We’ll need that and a lot more nonviolent direct actions to create a government of, by, and for the people, not the corporate oligarchs running it now.

Timothy McGloin

Durham

Fine Final Four

The NCAA tournament is finally going to be exciting to watch due to the fact Kentucky, Duke, and North Carolina are not in the Final Four.

This is a breath of fresh air for college basketball. I want to give a big shout out to Michigan, Kansas State, and Kansas for sending these three teams packing. I am extremely happy due to the fact that UK, Duke, and North Carolina have all these five-star recruits, but they still got beat. I think it is extra sweet because, to a certain degree, Kentucky and Duke are becoming OADU's to some recruits. OADU is One And Done Universities. Go Loyola of Chicago.

Jerry Moore

Mount Carmel, Tenn.

Outside the bubble

Was glad to see the mayor of DC was concerned for the safety of people marching in the Capitol Saturday. Does anyone else see the irony of deploying the National Guard, people with guns for an anti-gun march?

The folks in Hollywood and DC are all protected with public/private security whether in public, or at home in their gated communities. Guess we who live outside the bubble are not entitled to defend ourselves.